MongoDB shares pop 25% in its public market debut

MongoDB made its public debut with a bang, with jumping more than 25%, today after spending the past several days revising up its expectations throughout the IPO process — which seems to have landed on the right spot.

The company provides open-source technology that can be attractive for early-stage startups that want to get off the ground and then seeks to convert those companies to paying customers with premium products. Since filing to go public, MongoDB has steadily raised the price at which it plans to sell shares, which signals an increasing appetite for the company’s stock. The final goal is to land somewhere in the space of raising a ton of money while still letting it “pop” on public markets.

So that kind of march upward seems not only a good sign for MongoDB, but for IPO appetites as well. MongoDB is a company that has shown a history of consistent losses even though its business has been growing over time. Like other open source technology companies, it faces the risks of someone else taking the technology and running with it and risks not offering products competitive enough.

Cloudera, which also works with open-source technology, also finished up 20% in its market debut, but then saw its stock steadily decline:

The first day usually isn’t a great indicator of how things are going to go with the company, but it’s what everyone hopes. Companies need to go public to raise capital, but a successful IPO also helps the perception of the company as it looks to do any number of things: attract talent, acquire customers, or get even more capital.